Recipe – Italian Wedding Soup

"Wedding" soup in the title is a misnomer. The name is derived from an Italian phrase that meant the vegetables and the meats wedded nicely together. This is a hardy, great tasting soup, good for a meal. - Jughandle

If Needed

Directions

There are as many recipes for Italian Wedding Soup as there are cooks. We are going to wed the flavors and textures of chicken, spinach, parmesan cheese, white pinto beans and Italian bread croutons. No meat balls in our soup this time. As you are making this soup use your own judgment as to how much, meat, spinach, beans and cheese you want.

The day before:

Soak 1 bag of dried white pinto beans over night or buy 2- 12 oz cans

Make or buy 8 to 12 cups of low sodium chicken stock

Shred about 1/2 lb or more of the chicken you made the stock with or cook and shred 2 chicken breasts

To make the soup:

In a large pot saute 1 large yellow or white onion, diced small -1/4 inch

Also saute 1/2 green and 1/2 red bell pepper and 1 carrot diced to the same size as the onion

Saute until soft – about 5 minutes

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

Add 3 cups of the pinto beans

Cook the beans at a soft boil until they are almost tender – about 45-60 minutes

While the beans are cooking in the broth, cube the Italian bread into 1/2 inch crouton size chunks

Lightly toss the croutons in a large bowl with 2 T olive oil and 1/4 t of oregano and 1/4 t of thyme salt and pepper to taste

Pour the croutons on a sheet pan and toast in the oven until brown and crunchy, turning once or twice to brown all sides – don’t burn them Darlene.

Clean, dry and chop into 1 inch squares, 3 cups of fresh spinach

When the beans are almost soft enough to eat add the spinach

Cook another 20 minutes

Then add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese and all of the chicken

Cook another 20 minutes

Now, this is very important – taste the soup – what does it need?

If it is bland add a little salt and a dash of Tabasco pepper sauce (just a dash, we’re not trying to make it spicy) and a dash of Worcestershire sauce

If the flavor just sits there and you can’t make out the different ingredients, add 1 T white vinegar and/or the juice of 1 lemon to brighten the flavors

Stir it well and taste it again. It should be great – if not adjust the seasonings as needed

Add 1/2 cup of croutons to a bowl or large cup and ladle the soup over them.

Top with more freshly grated Parmesan

About jughandle

I believe that it in order to do anything in life you MUST understand how it works. Once you understand you can make informed decisions about what you are attempting to do. This is the basis of the creative process. The goal of this blog is to help us understand Food, Health and Cooking. These are things we deal with daily and can't, or shouldn't ignore. - Jughandle

About the author

I believe that it in order to do anything in life you MUST understand how it works. Once you understand you can make informed decisions about what you are attempting to do. This is the basis of the creative process. The goal of this blog is to help us understand Food, Health and Cooking. These are things we deal with daily and can't, or shouldn't ignore. - Jughandle